Creative Exchange Preset {or better late than never}

I'm hoping none of you noticed how one of the organizers of The Creative Exchange didn't have her present posted on August first. I hope you're also not noticing that it's the 9th. So no one noticed? Good!

There were a few bumps in the road with paring people up during the exchange. I'm glad there were! It let me be partners with my buddy Kelley from The Grant Life.

Basically, this was cheating. Kelley and I have been blogging buddies for awhile now and have transitioned in to real life friends {I'm so stoked that we get to hang out in like a month!}. Well, I know that Kelley has two adorable little kiddos and a love for all things nautical. I had a blast making presents to reflect this.

First up is a shirt for her little boy, Avery. Now he can sport some nautical love, too.

I used my Shilouette to cut out a freezer paper stencil. The anchor was a free design a while back. The paint is Martha Stewart's craft paint in Deep Sea. I mixed it with the cheapo Joann's fabric medium. It was my first time using one of Martha's paint. It was on sale and I had a major coupon. I love the color, but don't think I'll pay more for it in the future.

Riley is a very girly little girl. So, I knew some accessories were in order. All of these little guys are on clips. Mostly, I just made it up as I went along when it came to the flowers. It was a great scrap buster! The bottom right was based on a tutorial from Jamie from Scatter Thoughts of a Crafty. It didn't turn out anything like it should have but I like it anyway! I have a whole board of flower on Pinterest, if you need some inspiration to make your own clips!

The kiddos are each getting some fun little snack sacks from the Dollar Spot at Target, too!

I made Kelley a large tote bag using duck cotton from Hobby Lobby. As a momma of one, I know large bags are my savior. I can only imagine how much you'd have to haul around with two under the age of three!

 

I had too much fun wrapping. Each kiddo is going to get their own little package to open.

I know opening presents makes my day! So, Kelley's is wrapped up cute too. 

Add a cute mailing envelope completed the look and the present is {finally} on its way! Thanks for being so patient with me, Kelley!

Thanks so much for the kind feature! 

 

Come party with me!

C.R.A.F.T, Mommy By Day, Crafter By Night, Shwin & Shwin, Tip Junkie, Southern Lovely, Uncommon Designs, Somewhat Simple, Yesterday on Tuesday, House of Hempworths, 52 Mantels, The CSI Project, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, Family Ever After, The Grant Life, Positively Splendid, I {Heart} Nap Time, It's Overflowing

Skirting the Issue Part 2 {or slow and steady wins the race}

This weekend was very productive. I got another three skirts done for Skirting the Issue. You can check out the first two here.

First up, we have a size 6 skirt that used up a remnant from Joann's that's been in my stash for awhile. Its bright and fun. But, I think its something that can be worn year round with leggings.

This doubled layer cutie is a 2t skirt inspired by Dana at Made's Double Layer Skirt. The fabric is Flea Market Fancy in pink eyelet from Free Spirt trimmed in white double fold bias tape. I'm impressed how great this skirt looks for such little effort. I'll be using this trick on more skirts!

The final skirt in this installment is a simple elastic waist skirt in a 4t. The fabric is Remix in Bright from Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman. If nothing else, the foster parents will be able to see their little girl from across the park in this sucker!

I'm excited to finish up the last couple of skirts tomorrow. I'll share them with you all next week!

Come party with me!
C.R.A.F.T, Mommy By Day, Crafter By Night, Shwin & Shwin, Tip Junkie, Southern Lovely, Uncommon Designs, Somewhat Simple, Yesterday on Tuesday, House of Hempworths, 52 Mantels, The CSI Project, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, Family Ever After, The Grant Life, Positively Splendid, I {Heart} Nap Time, It's Overflowing

Just a Moment Monday {or funny baby pictures}

We have a cat named fudge that crawls into everything. When he was a kitten, he slept in a bowl. He crawls into any bag or box that's on the ground. It doesn't matter if the box happens to be too small, a foot in the box is plenty for him.

Emma seems to be taking after Fudge {who is her BFF}. Lately she's be standing in boxes, sticking her feet through ring toys and then walking, and crawling into a plastic drum. 

We moved Emma up to her "big girl" car seat. Our newborn car seat {a Britax} had the greatest neck support pillow I've seen. You could expand or deflate the pillow as needed. She was living the good life in that thing. We'll now the little miss is a big girl seat and has no such luxury {at least until I make her one}. And yes, that's an empty water bottle she's using as a pillow. Its her favorite car toy. We're done buying kiddo toys. This kid is in love with boxes, spatulas, and milk jugs.

{Do you like the new header? Jessa over at Caked Vintage made it for me as apart of the awesome giveaway win I had last month.}


 

Skirting the Issue Part 1 {or time to get my sew on!}

So, remember my Skirting the Issue fabric stash post of awhile back? Well we are supposed to have our skirts donated by August 10th. Like next Friday. Like a week form today. Last friday, I had a major cutting spree. I got 10 skirts and elastic cut just waiting for my sewing machine.

So a week later and a week left? I have two done.

I am having my rear handed to me by a class for the first time since I foolishly thought I should take chemistry in college. Its a workload that's leaps and bounds beyond anything that I've had since starting my MSW. Plus, its figuring out how to use a statistical software that isn't really my best buddy. So it's lots of yelling and very slow going. I'd much rather be sewing twenty plus hours a week and doing homework for two and a half. Can we work on that, please?

What, you didn't come to read my sob story about a mean class? Okay...okay....here's the skirts.

The good news is I have two skirts done. And I am smitten. And I bought a pair of pinking sheers the other day so now I won't have to spend so much time finishing all my seams. I'm sure I'll get the other eight done in time. I'm hoping to also bust out a couple of shirred t-shirt skirts from goodwill finds for older girls who won't think its cool to wear something with a cowgirl hat on it.

The first skirt's fabric is Riley Blake's Medium Chevron in Grey {There will be more of this fabric gracing this blog later this month!}. It was made using a tutorial that Melissa from Sew Like My Mom shared for Skirting the Issue.

However, instead of legging, there's bike shorts. I ended up using bike shorts because Target was out of all leggings. These bike shorts also happened to be on clearance for $1.50. Too lazy/busy to go to Old Navy, I decided to be thrilled with the $1.50. After finishing the skirt, I fell in love with the bike shorts. It keeps the little playground climber covered but still relatively cool. It's been over 100 for a week now with no end in sight. Cool is important. And, as someone who has spent a lot of time at preschool playgrounds {for work}, keeping the undies hidden helps keep teasing at bay.

This little skirt is just a really basic elastic waist skirt. The fabric is Samantha Walker's Saddle Up Main in Grey for Riley Blake.

Oh, and it comes with a matching pleated headband inspired by this tutorial from Jess at CINO. Really, it comes with a matching headband because the belt I had intended to attach failed. And I wasn't about to let my sewn tube go to waste!

Ok, I'm off to get my sew on!

  

Thanks for the feature!



Come party with me!
C.R.A.F.T, Mommy By Day, Crafter By Night, Shwin & Shwin, Tip Junkie, Southern Lovely, Uncommon Designs, Somewhat Simple, Yesterday on Tuesday, House of Hempworths, 52 Mantels, The CSI Project, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, Family Ever After, The Grant Life, Positively Splendid, I {Heart} Nap Time, It's Overflowing

The Creative Exchange Link Party {or show off your presents!}

The day has finally come! Its time to show off all the wonderful goodies your made for your Creative Exchange Partner! I am thrilled to see what you all have done.

I hope you have all enjoyed the Creative Exchange process. I know that Kelley, Brooke, and I have had a blast hosting this party. It was a fun adventure and a learning process. I personally want to thank all of you who graciously handled some of the bumps that occurred. We hope to put together another exchange in time. We'll be sure to keep you all posted!